Huawei CFO’s arrest threatens trade truce

The stock markets are resuming their decline from Tuesday this Thursday after a day off yesterday. The arrest of Huawei’s CFO is putting a strain on that U.S.-China trade truce. And USD/CAD hits 18-month highs.

Global uncertainty resumes on tech arrest

U.S. equities are following stocks in Europe and Asia, dropping lower on global uncertainty propelled by the arrest of Chinese firm Huawei’s CFO.

There was a reprieve in the slump Wednesday as markets closed for the memorial of President George H.W. Bush, but Thursday brings a new day of uncertainty, mainly around U.S.-China relations.

The trade truce formed by the two countries is being tested after Canada arrested Huawei Technologies Co.’s CFO Wanzhou Meng at the request of the U.S. Meng is the daughter of Huawei’s founder and the arrest – and talks of extradition to the U.S. – are causing an uproar in China.

Meng is accused of violating U.S. sanction on Iran.

Dollar dips on ADP miss

The U.S. dollar is down against the euro and the pound Thursday after ADP employment numbers missed expectations.

The EUR/USD pair shot up to 1.138 after starting the day closer to 1.132. The GBP/USD pair climbed to 1.277 after hitting a low of 1.270 earlier in the day.

The ADP numbers say we added 179,000 jobs in November compared to the 195,000 expected and the 225,000 the previous month. The slowdown in employment could point to a softening economy. On Friday we will get another reading of employment with the highly watched nonfarm payroll numbers for November.

USD/CAD hits 18-month high

The U.S. dollar continues to climb against its Canadian equivalent Thursday after the Bank of Canada struck a dovish note Wednesday.

The BoC held interest rates at 1.75% as expected, but it was the monetary policy statement that caused the USD/CAD pair to spike from 1.328 to 1.338.

OPEC looks at smaller production cut

OPEC is meeting Thursday to discuss global oil production and the need to make cuts.

OPEC and its allies, like Russia, agreed that a six month reduction is needed, but it’s yet to be determined how. Alberta – Canada’s largest oil producing province – announced a production cut earlier this week starting in January.

President Trump is not happy about an impending production cut and wants oil prices to go even lower. Others believe this will not benefit the U.S. in the long run.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate is down to $51.6 per barrel Thursday after reports that OPEC is considering a smaller production cut – 1 million barrels per day instead of the 1.3 million bpd suggested by Saudi Arabia.